Would you use a Babysitting Service

[JudiRuliani]

I see so often in here that people with children don’t have local family/friends to support so find it difficult to get out and do things for themselves.

As a single (and keen to stay so), mum of adult children I spend a lot of evenings doing not a lot!

I could babysit so easily. Would you use a service such as this. I would ensure at a minimum that I had the following:

• A meeting with you first, and your children if we were going ahead
• An enhanced DBS check available for you to see
• Paediatric First Aid qualification
• Personal Indemnity Insurance
• References
• A copy of my fees (not overly high, maybe a premium if past midnight)

I’m interested in whether this is viable, anything I’ve overlooked or not considered and general opinions please. Thanks ☺️

There are agencies that do this, I used to work through sitters. The agency interviews and checks all the DBS etc. Plenty of people used it so there was definitely demand. It might be worth looking at joining one of them, it was years ago now but there was no cost to me to be registered with them.

I should add it meant that the people I was working for all understood the terms, so there were no quibbles about fees/late cancellations or other nonsense.

I wouldn’t, no. But this is a thing. My cousin is a nanny and she does some babysitting on the side in the evenings. I think people would be unlikely to hire a standalone person from the internet (okay, some probably will 😂), but going through an agency would add an extra layer of assurance.

Absolutely not, I’d rather never leave the house than hire a stranger to look after my kids.

We used to pay people to babysit when ours were little, but we went on recommendations, or used people we knew / had a connection with rather than following up a card in a shop window (as it would have been then, before facebook groups).
So, if you have a way of getting the first few clients, then I think word would spread and you could make a go of it. I think (I guess like with any new business) getting the first few clients would be the most difficult, unless you already have a way in - such as you already run the local toddler group, or are a Volunteer Brownie Leader or something.

I would have used a childminder that was outside of the regular 8-6. There are many, many people who work shifts & childcare outside of core hours is so hard to find. I’m not sure about a babysitter because I used grandparents but I would think there are loads of people without a support network who would.

There are big national agencies that do this.

I use an app called childcare and have found amazing babysitters this way who are dbs checked, loads of experience and genuinely enjoy spending time with my kids. This past year I’ve had a nursing student who sends me amazing updates of what she discusses with my kids, how their days were and I come home to a clean kitchen. Fabulous woman! And when she’s not available there are many others who can step in. The hours are weird ones, but I still manage to get them covered. So it sounds like you’re inventing something that is already out there potentially?

Some people do clearly use babysitting services, there are several popular apps for babysitters and parents to connect and there are plenty of independent babysitters who advertise in my area. I’d imagine it’s a fairly competitive industry and that your pricing is going to dictate your level of custom to a large extent: people often complain about no childcare support or local family, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there are no local paid childcare or babysitting services - just that they don’t want / can’t afford to pay someone £80/£100+ so they can go out for the evening.

I would have loved this, we kept finding babysitters but they tended to be students who then moved on.

Cost will be your issue. I've always preferred to use local 16- or 17-year-olds for around £8/hour. I wouldn't pay £13-16 per hour for an adult when a sensible sixth former is half the price and perfectly competent (my kids are primary school aged; I accept that it may be worth paying for a trained adult if you're talking about a baby).

Loads of people use babysitting services. Mumsnet is not representative on this issue

But because of this all of these services already exist. You can register with childcare.co.uk to find babysitting work. This is direct contact with parents so no agency fees etc. You can also register with an agency like Bubble who specialise in babysitting jobs. They do take a percentage though so hourly rate paid tends to be lower. You can also go it alone and advertise locally, often word of mouth is your best bet anyway.

I might.

I work for a DBS company, and the rules have changed, and you can now get a proper Enhanced one with Children's Barred List check as self-employed.

Probably what would make me more confident is some genuine referrals\testimonials. The trust issue is the biggest hurdle.

We have done in the past, just once or twice. Dds were around 9-12, that sort of age. At the time there was no internet or the ability to check reviews, etc., but it was fine.

Practically my sole source of cash when I was in the sixth form was babysitting - mostly for a well-off couple who went out a lot - with a one year old who always slept through - and the dad used to drive me home in his E-Type! Happy days….